Wednesday, March 9, 2011

J/111 World One-Design Growth

J/111 speedster- one-design offshore sailboat-weekender-day sailor(Newport, RI)-  Reports from the frontiers of sailing around the world indicate that interest for 111's is strong, with dozens of prospective sailors/ owners looking forward to their first experiences racing this new rocketship in the 2011 sailing season.  By summer, J/111 speedsters will be sailing in at least ten countries on four continents- USA and Canada for North America; Sydney, Australia and Auckland, New Zealand Down Under; Cartagena, Columbia for South America; and United Kingdom, France, Germany, Netherlands and Switzerland for Europe-- a remarkably strong debut for the next generation international one-design off the J drawing boards and the first J to go global in less than twelve months!

Supporting this worldwide one-design roll-out is JB Composites in Les Sables'd'Olonne, France.  President Didier LeMoal is excited about the 111s' prospects for Europe and is looking forward to the launching of the first European-built J/111 in April.  With over a dozen boats ordered from the French facility alone, the fleets in both the UK and France are well on their way to having one-design events rolling in Europe for 2012.

For those of you who wish to see a 111 soon, they will debuting in Charleston Race Week, Strictly Sail Pacific show, Warsash Spring Series (UK) and BMW Auckland Race Week (New Zealand) all within the next month.  And, look for the 111 to debut in Australia at the Sydney Boatshow in July.  Other 2011 events the 111 will be sailing include Rolex STC Block Island Race, Rolex Block Island Race Week, Rolex Fastnet Race, Rolex Big Boat Series, Rolex Middle Sea Race and Rolex RORC Caribbean 600 in 2012.  For more J/111 sailboat information